"Well, we—-er—-we took a little meat and had some dinner while we were over there."
After that the two dudish boys confessed what had been done, laying the greater part of the blame on the others of their party. Snap and his chums were rightly indignant.
"We ought to duck you in the lake and then have you locked up," said Snap. "It is what you deserve."
"No, no!" came with a shiver from Dick Bush. "Let us off, and I'll pay my share of the damage done."
"It isn't a question of money," said Shep. "It's your utter meanness."
The wind was now blowing so violently that the boys began to grow alarmed, and after a brief talk, Snap and his chums decided to follow Bush and Dodder to their camp, taking their guns with them. The deer were hung up in some trees, out of the reach of other animals.
The coming of Snap and his friends to the rival camp produced another stormy scene, and for awhile it looked as if there would be an open fight. The young hunters "laid down the law" good and hard, and Ham Spink and his crowd were much alarmed in consequence.
"You had no right to touch our things, and I could have you arrested for it," said Snap. "Now our boat is gone, I am going to claim yours until we get ours back."
"That ain't fair!" cried Ham Spink.
"It has got to be fair," answered Snap, stubbornly.